Partners or enemies?
by greyillumination
Summary: Serena is a dead aim, gun wielding agent of sorts who is suddendly paired with Darien who erks her to no end. Question is will she get over it when it truly matters? AU Possible romanance Later...
1. Chapter 1

_Hi to everyone who's reading this. Thank you for checking it out. It is an AU, but I use some of the characters. Warning to those out there concerned, this is not an insta-romance, I repeat not an insta-romance. There is going to be some, but I wanted to focus more on the plot then emotional dysfunctions and soap operas. I love reviews criticism included hint hint. So happy reading: )_

Disclaimer: If only this _was_ an alternate universe then I could own it, but reality bites, it all belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.

If you looked out the globe window you couldn't quite see anything for a fraction of a minute then the neon lights came into focus and blurs of light flashed by. No light. No natural light anyway. The sky was always dark except for the occasional cosmic star flare. Serena sighed and turned her back onto the city and started taking her clothes out of the closet. She chose her black thermal which resembled a wet suit and regulated her body temperature. It had a turtle neck and came down in a v with a loop that hooked around her middle finger. She zipped up the side and then pulled on her vest with the reinforced bullet proof feature which was cream colored and had a loose hood. (looks like the elf's ones from lord of the rings). The last thing left was her belt. It was the most important part of her wears because it had many adjoining pockets that had her ID, free all you can eat pass to Jerry's, and a charger for her taser gun. All three made up her life. Her gun was an extension of her limb and when she wasn't at the office or on duty she was stuffing her face at Jerry's. Her thoughts tripped up when her hologram watch buzzed. A projection of a small stout man with spectacles that resembled tiny binoculars huffed and said in a very irritating tone, "You're late. Again. Do you know what this is doing to my poor nerves? If he finds out we'll both be shoved out on our behinds and I can tell you that will not be a--"

"Chill Dolf, I know I'm late and I'm hurrying as fast as I can, so cover for me" she added as an afterthought, "oh and sorry about your nerves." The little man huffed again and grumbled, "I'm sure you are."

In an instant the hologram blurred and dissipated. Serena grabbed her boots, jumped into the chute, and landed atop her hover bike. The shield closed while she started the ignition. After changing the gear to auto pilot, she laced up her boots and called Jerry.

"You've reached Jerry's glorbulous cuisine and fine dining establishment, if you have any special requests, other than what we provide, like a sealed oxygen tank or indigenous utensils from your home planet we will be glad to supply them with proper noti—''

"Cut it out Jerry you know it's me and I'm really late so I'm not in the mood to play games."

"One cheese yrtsap one coffee"

"Aww you remembered"

"Hard not to since we cater your breakfast every morning, which I might add is taking advantage of my hospitality"

"Jerry you owe me big time, the least you can do is supply me with sustenance so I can continue to risk my life for the good of mankind."

"How noble of you" Jerry chuckled "alright you know where to go"

"Right captain" She slid her hover bike around to the back where Jerry sat holding a brown bag in the air. She grabbed it and said a quick thanks I owe you one and jetted away. Jerry smiled, "and here I was thinking it was the other way around." He walked back into the restaurant amid the cacophony coming from the kitchen and customers.

She arrived at the office in a huff with coffee in hand yrtsap in her mouth and her bag swinging behind her. She sped past the automated lifts, past the robotic secretary who said snidely, "Your late again Serena that is approximately 15.2453 times so far by my calc---" Serena shushed her and continued at full speed towards her desk where she landed in a heap. She was able to gasp a few breaths before, "Seereeeeeeenaaaaaaa!" Ugh and her head promptly fell to the desk.

"NOW!"

"Alright, alright" she mumbled half to her self, half to the owner of the bodiless voice. She trudged up to the door that read Mr. Phyllius Bode, chief of command. It opened with a creak and she disappeared behind it. The man Phyllius was large and could only manage a squatting position in the huge leather chair. The leather itself squelched as he moved, which drove Serena insane. His large bushy eyebrows knitted together in thought like he was preparing to tell her something she might find hard to take.

"Take a seat Serena" squelch. She plopped down into the chair across from his desk. "You've been" squelch "one of our best…agents" squelch uh oh "You've proven yourself capable time and again—" whew "But you are also repeatedly late for work, don't think I don't know, disorganized and you lack respect for the lives of those around you." She scoffed. "That is why we are assigning you a partner." She sucked in her breath. "Don't start; think of this as a challenge, you need to figure out how to coordinate fighting with someone else."

"That's all well and good, but what if I feel I have all the abilities I need to whip butt?"

"Then you'll have a lot more to learn than previously anticipated." "At any rate, you don't have a choice in the matter."

"I could quit" She said it as a threat.

"You care too much about your job to go through with it, now we're done." She hunched into her chair and glared at him until he spoke, "Ah he's here." A little louder, "Come in" The door creaked and with a kchack it closed behind a shadowed figure. "This," he directed Serena's attention to "is your new partner—Darien Shields"

Introductions were short with some misgivings on both sides. Once they were over Phyllius dismissed them with an order to report back tomorrow. They both walked out and headed towards the lift.

"Why are you following me?" Serena said a little annoyed.

"I have to use the lift." He replied curtly.

"Hah, right, you just want to get some."

"Hardly, and if I did it would be with one of the more…mature agents." He smirked.

"Oh really."

They climbed into the elevator simultaneously. As the doors shut, Serena turned away from Darien while he stood looking coolly ahead. The elevator jerked suddenly, then screeched to a halt as the lights flickered off. A woman's voice echoed, "Grade A Simulation activated—loading data" The elevator walls slowly transformed into a rocky outcropping. When it was finished, they were surrounded by a quarry made up of molten red boulders. The sand under their feet shifted as they turned around.

"What happened? This wasn't scheduled," Serena stated.

"Give me you gun" Serena looked at him incredulously.

"No"

"It's not like I'm asking you for you right arm"

"What would you know and why don't _you_ have a weapon?"

"What does it matter, just give me the gun"

"You gave it to the guy at the desk didn't you?"

"No"

"You're really gullible you know that"

"I didn't give it to him"

"What the hell are you doing here without a weapon then?"

Darien looked uncomfortable for a minute then said slowly, "I was in a hurry and so I left it on my dresser by accident."

Serena looked vandalized. "You realize that is your only line of defense." "Well if you think I'm going to protect your sorry butt when I don't even want a partner, then you're sadly mistaken."

"I understand you want to show off, but I really need to get out of here and I can speed this up so we can both leave." "Now give me your gun." She grudgingly handed it to him. He carefully examined it from all sides then gave it back.

"What was that for?" she asked dubiously.

"I was gauging the capabilities of your gun. From where we stand our opponents should use a frontal attack and a very close one so a short range weapon is best suited for this controlled atmosphere." She looked at him a little surprised then twitched and a pulse mark appeared on her forehead.

"…and how exactly do you figure tha—" She was interrupted as a shadow was cast from behind her.

"Turn and shoot-quick!" he added for emphasis. She gritted her teeth and pivoted with practiced speed and shot the tazer at the simulation. It emitted an Arghh and dissipated into computerized particles. As soon as she zapped it though, they began popping up like daisies. Darien kept telling her to turn right, then left, then right again until she was out of breath.

"I believe that is all of them." She slowly turned around to see him looking serious except for a small smile tugging at his lips. "Don't worry, I forgive you for being an ass before" She stood there a minute silently fuming and then she exploded.

"HOW DARE YOU, YOU SMUG ARROGANT JERK! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I'M AB-SO-LUT-LY CAPABLE BY MYSELF SO YOU CAN SHOVE OFF AND GO BACK TO WHERE EVER YOU CAME FROM!"

With that the simulation faded into the elevator and she stormed out once the doors opened. Errrgh what an impossible self-conceited jerk! They both walked off in separate direction in a brooding cloud of thought, unaware that they were being kept under surveillance. "And so it begins," someone chuckled.

_Wahoo! My very first chapter done I'm sooooo happyXD Till next time_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey back again, took long enough right? Read and have a party..._

Note: Serena's thoughts are italicized

She was up before dawn. Too bad she was back in bed five minutes later. And then she was up again. Things would have been a little bit easier if someone could get some decent sleep without the constant beeping of every single electronic machine in the entire sector. Trouble is, a job in the Hunt Force pays about as much as the deli down the street and they're not exactly A material in the health regulation manual.

So if you have to rely on favors for breakfast and the same uniform as your wardrobe, things aren't lookin' too bright for the home situation, which is why she was camped out in the dingiest quarter of the Nebulus. It was humble to say the least. It was also grimy, rat infested, had shady occupants, and was fast becoming the greatest smog collector in the ranks. These would all be those pesky little problems they would omit on the housing registrar, but to be honest she was growing fond of them in a perverse kind of way. They made up home.

Which brings us back to the problem of the beeping and the not sleeping. The electricity shorts erratically, because it is one of the lowest funded areas. As a result, all the inhabitants had lovely nights full of beeping from when the power booster would charge up and spread juice to every single appliance or robotically engineered machinery for about ten seconds and then cut again.

Yep, this made life so hellish that many occupants seeked sanctuary in Jerry's which was independently powered by his very own generator. See nobody knows how he came across this fine and very expensive piece of equipment. No one asks in these parts.

When Serena trudged in through the automatic door that swooshed, there was a booming laughter from behind the bar.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me," he said with a wink.

"Err, cut the niceties and hand over your coffee." _This is not my day. Bet that nancy lives in Ballios; no dealing with shorts there._

"Have something extraordinary today?" He slid the coffee onto the table and slumped heavily onto the chair beside her.

"Hmmm…?" Serena took a tentative sip of the coffee, faintly smiling as it cleared the fogginess from her eyes.

"Don't bother, drink your coffee, I need to see to that worm over there who started a fight yesterday right on my counter top." He eased up and took off with a formidable look in his eye. She pitied the deviant.

The coffee took hold and things slid into place with a snap in her head. I need the coordinates to that quarter in Streep, re-evaluate that hover bike for the inspection over at Mont, sabotage new partner and clean the toilet. Her eyes crackled with intensity as she strode out the door and up to her apartment.

Her morning routine was still rushed, but she managed without Dolf's huffy reminder and transported to work on just fumes. Things were looking up.

She strode into her office and hefted her bag onto her desk before looking up to see a scruffy head of hair opposite her. It resembled the partner's hair (she refused to acknowledge his name) and she noted with satisfaction his dissemblance. She glanced back down at her gun then jerked it up again.

"What precisely is your intent for being in my office!?" This is a rather diluted translation of the actual correspondence as transcribed by the robotic secretary listening at the door who is programmed with politeness as a key characteristic.

He looked up distractedly and said off-handed, "I was assigned this desk."

_Pretty short chapter, but I like ending it here so please review I appreciate it and I'll update sooner than last time which is about as solid as this promise gets, later days_


	3. Chapter 3

I wish free time grew on trees…

Disclaimer: Kudos to Naoko Takeuchi

Darien's POV

She looked ruffled to say the least though he wouldn't have been surprised to have her gun shoved in his face any second now. In fact he wondered what she'd do without a gun since she didn't appear to be very bright, led by the trigger more than any sort of common sense. How did he get stuck here again? Wrong road… maybe if he ignored her she'd go away and stop yelling in his ear.

"You honestly think I'm just going to hand over my space so you can dirty it up with your…your…skewed sensibilities well I'll have you…" Yeah, it was going to be a long day.

Serena's POV

Her temper always left her blind with anger. White hot anger. Right now she was ready to fork him with her ball point if she had to. Anything to get him Out. Of. Her.

Space. Not only was he crowding her office, but he was…cleaning. What kind of guy cleans? Not anyone she knew. It looked like he was doing it absentmindedly and definitely ignoring her. How dare him!

She threw a crumbled receipt at him that was lying on her desk. It bounced off his head and in to the cardboard coffee cup squatting next to the lamp. He stared at the coffee cup intensely then, so fast his motion was a blur, he whipped out a gun and pointed it square at her nose.

"My coffee's ruined."

"Hey you can't pull a gun on me," she said as she pulled out her own and pointed it at every guy's vulnerability.

He smirked, "You wouldn't dare."

"Of course I would. Now since I have your attention I will be very generous and give you ten minutes to move out of this office and I won't shoot you."

"How very diplomatic."

"What the hell is going on in here!?" Bode burst into the office and gave Serena and Darien a, this better be good look.

"He just needed a little help moving his stuff"

"The guns?"

"Very helpful"

"Ah…well suffice to say Serena, Darien _is_ your partner and _will_ be working in this office so holster those guns and get to work."

_Two hours later_

"Would you quit it!?"

"What?"

"Spraying that stuff, it's nauseating."

"It's better than the stink of month old coffee."

"Not a chance," she broke out into a fit of coughing. "Oh my god, I think I just swallowed it."

"Then go outside."

"No matter what Bode said, this is and will always be my office and I'm not leaving."

It took a minute before she realized she couldn't breathe so she ended up running out the door and onto the street. Doubled over, she gulped in handfuls of air, clutching the side of the building with one hand. _Jerk_.

She was heading in, but something caught her eye. It was small and squarish. She picked it up and realized it was extremely thin and there was a green metallic glint that was what made her double take. It resembled the older model computer chips that were virtually nonexistent these days. Thin veins of black and red crossed and re-crossed on the surface. She stuffed it in the pocket of her jacket and headed back in.

Hoping to get some action sequences in next time so stay tuned folks and I'll give you a cookie/


End file.
